1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates magnetic supports for ladders and particularly to a magnetic top built into a ladder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ladders have been used for thousands of years. The folding stepladder is one of a long progression of developments for ladders over the past few hundred years. One of the developments involving folding stepladders is the use of a support shelf. The shelf is designed to fold for storage and can hold things such as small tools and paint cans. As useful as this shelf is, there are problems. There is nothing to hold items on the shelf. Thus tools and paint cans have been known to fall from these shelves, causing injury and damage.
Several devices have been developed to retain things being used on the shelf, and indeed for items kept on other parts of the ladder. Some of these devices are found in the following patents. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,052, a magnetic support tray is disclosed. This tray is fastened to the support shelf on a ladder using bolts and wing nuts to make it removable. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,059, a magnetic tool holder is shown that can be attached to a ladder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,245 teaches a ladder that has a top with a webbed design that allows tools and other items to be held in the web. U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,807 discloses a magnetic paddle that holds screws and the like. The paddle can be secured to a ladder if desired. U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,260 teaches a tray that is attached to the top of a ladder using bolts or other fasteners. The tray extend forward of the ladder and has compartments that hold tools, fasteners and paint cans. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,022 discloses a magnetic wrap that can be secured to the top of a ladder using hook and loop fasteners.
While all of these devices help workers keep organized and hold items on a ladder, they are all designed to be portable. Moreover, some of them are cumbersome and bulky.